Spotlight Article:

Living in an Old House Remodeled to Passive House Standard

My husband, Kurt Hurley, and I are homeowners with passion for green building, and we've managed to reduce the energy consumption of our 93-year-old house by 80% through a very detailed renovation following the Passive House (...

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April 27, 2017

This article discusses the Passive House (PH) as an example for sustainable architecture. It defines what a PH house is as well as how it uses shading, ventilation, and solar power efficiently.
Originating from the ... [continue reading]

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July 12, 2016

The Victorian house in the Shadyside neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had been re-muddled several times and was in dilapidated condition. Thoughtful Balance (TB), a Pittsburgh-based architecture firm specializing in sustainable, low-energy design, decided to take ... [continue reading]

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November 01, 2015

My husband, Kurt Hurley, and I are homeowners with passion for green building, and we've managed to reduce the energy consumption of our 93-year-old house by 80% through a very detailed renovation following the Passive House (... [continue reading]

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June 27, 2015

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June 06, 2015

Two recent Passive House (PH) consultations of mine have made clear the difficulty of making the PH standard more widely adopted in this country. Both consultations were for small, single-family homes. Neither house was more &... [continue reading]

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March 15, 2015

When Ray Stiefel began planning his energy-efficient Passive House (PH) project in upstate New York, the net zero building concept was virtually unknown in the United States. It took seven years of discussion and research ... [continue reading]

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March 11, 2015

I recently had a phone conversation with a frantic contractor who was in charge of a Passive House (PH) retrofit. He was in desperate need of an air-sealing specialist. The house was leaking almost a 700 ... [continue reading]